Tainted Homeworld
by CommanderConrad
Summary: Still reeling from the death of his lover and the loss of Coruscant, young Jedi Kenos Ossinian continues to fight a strong temptation to use the dark side of the Force to fight the murderous Yuuzhan Vong. Luke and Mara Skywalker, hoping to give the young


Borleias Occupation, Day 1

Kenos Ossinian used the Force to balance himself as the atmosphere of the jungle world Borleias buffeted the _Record Time._ _Two minutes to planet fall,_ thought the young Jedi. When the ship stabilized a bit, he resumed his walk down the column of seats that were filled by his troops. He gave comforting words to them as he passed and asked each if they were ready for the upcoming retaking of the moon's biotics facility. "Good to go, sir," was the reply from every one of them, but Kenos could feel their fear and anxiety. For many of the soldiers under his command, the only combat they'd experienced was the destruction of their homeworlds by the murderous Yuuzhan Vong. 

"Just remember your training," Kenos would say to all of them while he rapped his knuckles on their helmets. "You'll be fine." Of course, that wasn't true; no amount of instruction could totally prepare someone for war. _When the blaster bolts start flying, someone always gets burned._

Those facts had been proved to the twenty-two year old man over and over throughout the war. Even Jedi Knights, with the Force to aid, strengthen, and speed them were taking heavy casualties. Only hours ago, Kenos had received word that six of the seventeen Jedi on the strike force tasked to kill the voxyn queen had been killed themselves. Among the dead were Anakin Solo and Jovan Drark, both of whom were good friends of Kenos. With a scowl of anger, he added them to the mental list of friends he had lost, a list already too long for such a young man. 

Kenos took Jovan's death hard because the Rodian had been influential in keeping Kenos from sliding to the dark side of the Force, but it was just sent him further into the pit of despair that had been dug for him by the death of Numa Rar. A few weeks before the Jedi strike mission had been sent off, Kenos and Numa had met and become lovers. When she was killed over New Plympto, it crushed Kenos and sent him into a deep depression that he'd only partially recovered from. He knew it was against his Jedi training, but the prospect of enacting revenge on every Yuuzhan Vong warrior for her death was the only thing that kept him fighting.

When he'd reached the end of his platoon's seats, he turned and walked back to the seat designated for him. As he paced, he looked over his men and thought about how he ended up back in the New Republic Army. For the past few months, he'd been fighting against the Yuuzhan Vong in the cockpit of a fighter instead of on the ground. In fact, that's where he was when Coruscant fell two days earlier and that's where he thought he'd fight the rest of the war. General Antilles, however, felt differently and had Kenos placed into the Duel Command Service Program. Soldiers in that program—called "double dippers" informally—were given the unenviable duty of serving in two branches of the New Republic Defense Force. Kenos had been fine with that, and expected to be fighting the Vong personally once again, but the General had another surprise for him. Many soldiers defending Coruscant hadn't been evacuated and now General Antilles was in great need of experienced leaders. To solve the problem, he began giving commissions to almost anyone in his fleet who had combat experience. Twenty-two standard hours after Coruscant's fall, Kenos was a flight officer in New Republic Starfighter Command _and_ a lieutenant in the New Republic Army.

Nodding to the last trooper, he came to his seat. Too nervous to sit, he instead took up his rifle and looked it over. The new T-40 was heavier than the older T-34 but was powerful enough to punch through a Vong warrior's vonduum crab armor. It had its drawbacks, however. Because of its highter energy use, the weapon sucked up power packs quickly. Kenos really didn't like the idea of the rifle running out of energy in the middle of a lightfight, but knew it could happen with any energy weapon. _That's why I have this_, he thought and put a hand on the pistol holstered on his right thigh. The S-4D slug thrower housed there was first made during the Clone Wars and older than Kenos, but he didn't mind. It had seen him through Gyndine, Druckenwell, and many other battles, so he kept it around. _Besides, it kills Vong warriors. That's all that matters._

Dangling from his belt was his first weapon and what set him apart from the other soldiers on the ship—his lightsaber. Unlike most other lightsabers, his was not encased in highly polished metal. Early in the war, he'd coated it with a matte black paint in order to make it less reflective. A lightsaber's power generator was very efficient, so he didn't have to worry about the blade shorting out. While he'd primarily use his blaster rifle or pistol, he always kept his Jedi weapon ready for close encounters.

Done with his weapons check, he just waited patiently for the transport to land. Looking around, his gaze caught that of a dark-skinned human closer to the bay's doors. The man, Lando Calrissian, nodded slightly to Kenos, and the Jedi nodded back. Moving his gaze from the stylishly dressed man, he looked at the army of droids arrayed around the gambler. Kenos had heard rumors about the YVH series and hoped that they were all true. Designed solely for war against Yuuzhan Vong warriors, the tall droids bristled with weapons. Laser cannons, grenade launchers, and regenerative armor signified that these things meant business. If they really did what was said of them, many more people would survive the taking of the base on Borleias.

There was one final lurch and Kenos realized that they were on the planet. There was a chorus of clicks as the living troops of the bay armed their weapons and slapped the releases of their retraining belts. Each soldier stood ready for battle, but none of them moved towards the slowly opening cargo bay doors. Calrissian's mechanical troops were to go out first to clear the way, then the regular soldiers would follow. As the battle droids ran outside, Kenos hefted his rifle and listened for the order to leave.

After a minute of impatient waiting, an explosion rocked the ship and flooded the ship with thick smoke. A moment later, the order to charge came from the speakers. Kenos waved his men forward and led them in a dead run out of _Record Time_ and into the jungle of Borleias. As soon as they cleared the gangway of the battered ship, he turned left and raced toward the area of jungle his platoon was designated to pacify. Kenos and his soldiers fired into the foliage as warriors hidden in the bushes flung razor and thud bugs. One unlucky Bith took a razor bug in the face; the sharp edged flying insect cut through his helmet's visor and slammed into the soft tissue beneath. Two thud bugs flew past Kenos too quickly for even his Force-enhanced reflexes to intercept and slammed into another soldier's armored chest. He flew three meters backwards before landing on the ground, breathing with difficulty. Three other troops stopped their charge to carry him to cover but never made it. A heavily tattooed Yuuzhan Vong warrior broke through an under-defended portion of the jungle and used his snake-like amphistaff to cut the encumbered troops into pieces. Feeling the deaths behind him, Kenos turned halfway around and used his rifle to permanently down the enemy.

Coming to the edge of the jungle, he found a log large enough to use as cover. The Jedi and a few others dropped to the ground while the rest of his men spread out along the jungle's edge and organized themselves into fire teams. Utilizing the microphone attached to his helmet, Kenos ordered his men with proton mortars to begin setting up their weapons. YVH droids provided cover for the vulnerable men as they set up the heavier weapons. Sparks flew from wounds caused by hurled bugs and charging warriors, but the hardy droids didn't give up a centimeter of ground.

Kenos barely noticed their tenacity; he and his men had their hands full. From the depths of the jungle, swarms of Yuuzhan Vong warriors came rushing at them. Sometimes, they would come in groups of two or three and get mowed down. Often—too often—they'd band together and rush at the New Republic troops in larger groups. While most wouldn't survive the run, the warrior's who did would decimate fire teams with their amphistaffs or shorter coufees before being brought down.

Opening himself to the Force, Kenos enhanced his hearing enough to pick up a rustling to his left. From behind a bundle of leaves came a razor bug that slammed itself into the Wookiee behind him. The Wookiee screamed and her armor turned darker as blood stained it. "Lusak!" Kenos screamed into the air and his microphone, trying to be heard over the cacophony of blaster whines and explosions. "Help Shreehak!" The Givin soldier low-crawled to the injured Wookiee, and under the cover of his fellow soldiers, began treating Shreehak's wound. Another soldier threw a thermal detonator into the leaves from which the bugs had flown; Kenos turned away to reload his weapon as the blast blew dirt across his face.

When the smoke cleared, Kenos and a Quarren soldier began crawling towards the blast site. Kenos stopped crawling when he made his way through the thick leaves and saw a pair of scaly blue feet in front of him. Looking up, he stared straight into the scarred face of a Yuuzhan Vong warrior and his guts turned to ice. The warrior stabbed down with his amphistaff, but Kenos rolled away from the living blade. He tried to angle his rifle upwards for a shot, but found in disappointment that the top two centimeters of his rifle had been slashed off. The warrior grinned and spun his amphistaff lackadaisically to make the killing blow more glorious.

Kenos was saved only when the Quarren fired a shot at the warrior. The energy bolt was ablated by the warrior's armor, but it forced the startled and angered warrior to turn from the less threatening Jedi to the enemy with a working weapon. Knowing that the warrior was a second away from plunging his blade into the Quarren, Kenos grabbed his lightsaber, jumped to his feet, and activated the blade. The _snap-hiss_ the energy weapon produced made the warrior look his way with surprise, temporarily distracted. The second's disruption was all the Quarren needed to put a laser blast through the warrior's knee. The extragalactic invader screamed and fell to the ground, writhing in agony. Though he'd rather watch the disfigured murderer suffer, Kenos knew he had objectives to complete. Reversing his grip on his lightsaber's hilt, he plunged the blue blade through the warrior's face.

With the close threat eliminated, he loosened his grip on his lightsaber and took a brief moment to look around. He was surprised to see that the brief scuffle with the warrior had taken him and his Quarren companion past the slowly expanding perimeter his platoon was holding. Grimacing, he began to follow the Quarren back to the platoon.

Behind them, deeper in the jungle, explosions rang out and trees began shattering. Kenos dropped to the ground and had to call on the Force to save himself from being burnt alive from a pillar of blue flame. "The mortars are up!" Kenos screamed to the Quarren five meters ahead of him. "Get back to the others!" The Quarren nodded and ran hunched over to the rest of the platoon. Kenos climbed to his feet to do the same, but something wrapped around his legs and pulled him back to the ground. His chin hit the dirt as his lightsaber flew from his hands and landed two meters away. Whatever it was that had his legs withdrew and allowed Kenos to roll onto his back to see his attacker. Above him was another warrior, his amphistaff snapping back into the rigid blade he would undoubtedly use to impale the Jedi.

Kenos rolled backwards and drew on the Force to turn it into a back flip. Once again on his feet, he recalled his lightsaber to his left hand and blocked a slash from the Yuuzhan Vong. The enemy warrior slammed a blow meant to split the Jedi neatly in two from head to groin, but Kenos intercepted it in the middle ring of defense. The amphistaff coiled around his blue blade and the head snapped at his hand. Feeling a sudden stabbing pain in his wrist, Kenos jerked his hand away. He looked at it and saw two dots that began to turn red as blood came through them. _It bit me,_ he thought with a sinking heart. He took a step backwards, but when his foot hit the ground his knee gave out and sank to the dirt. _Poisoned._

The warrior smiled with his multiply split lips and approached slowly. "Your death will bring me much honor, _Jeedai_," he said in broken Basic and lifted his amphistaff in preparation for a decapitating blow. Before it could land, a mortar exploded behind the warrior, shooting debris in all directions. A branch swept up in the explosion slammed into the side of the warrior's head and knocked him to the ground. The barely conscious warrior came up to his knees with blood dripping from his temple. He smiled as he touched the gash, no doubt enjoying the pain in the perverted manner all fanatical Yuuzhan Vong had.

Though his vision was becoming fuzzier every second, Kenos knew the Yuuzhan Vong was only a second away from standing up and attempting to kill him again. With all the concentration he could muster, he lifted his pistol and fired three rounds. The first hit the warrior ineffectually on his armored chest, but the other two hypersonic slugs tore through his head. Not able to hold onto consciousness any longer, Kenos let his eyes droop shut and fell back. The headless Yuuzhan Vong warrior and the poisoned Jedi Knight both hit the ground in the same instant.

Borleias Occupation, Day 3

Slowly, the young Jedi's eyelids fluttered open. There were three blurs standing above him, and a larger, peaceful blue blur behind them. After a few moments and blinks, the closer hazes focused into people, and the blue one turned into the wall behind them. "He's awake," said one of the blurs. Kenos guessed from the sound of the voice that the speaker was a female Mon Calamarian. "I'll leave you," she said and walked away.

Kenos Ossinian sat up a little straighter and slowly returned to the realm of the conscious. Looking at the closest blur, the one on his left, he saw that it was a beautiful red-haired woman. Kenos knew who she was; he'd had something of a crush on her for many years as a young teenager. "Master Skywalker?" he croaked. Next to her was an aging man whose face Kenos had seen many times in his lifetime. In fact, there was hardly anyone in the galaxy who didn't recognize the man's profile. "Master Skywalker?" he croaked again. The two adults smiled and nodded as Kenos's gaze turned to the baby sleeping in the man's arms. "Baby Skywalker?" Kenos asked incredulously. He couldn't believe the entire Skywalker family was visiting him.

As the last bits of grogginess began to fade away, Mara Jade spoke. "Hello, Kenos, and welcome back. For a while, we were scared that you weren't going to make it." 

Kenos frowned and started to ask what she meant when he remembered. He'd been bitten by a Yuuzhan Vong amphistaff, knocked unconscious by its poison. Luckily for humans, the venom was curable, but most other species had no hope of surviving it. He still remembered visiting Daeshara'cor in her hospital room on Ithor moments before an amphistaff's poison killed her, and the thought that he survived what she hadn't brought back the usual guilt and anger he'd been carrying for the past few years.

Luke nodded and placed his free hand on the bed-ridden Jedi's shoulder. Kenos instantly began feeling more lucid as the Force flooded through him and unclogged his neural pathways. "Yes, it is. We took the base two days ago. You've been out the entire time." He smiled. "But don't worry. Cilghal says you'll be okay in a day or two." 

Surprised he'd been out so long, Kenos laid back and closed his eyes. A moment later, he opened them and looked at the elder Jedi. "Thank you for visiting me, Masters."

"Don't mention it," said Mara as she patted his arm. "But we're not the only ones; some others came by to see how you were about an hour ago."

Luke adjusted little Ben Skywalker in his arms. "But checking up on you isn't the only reason we came here." He smiled slightly and exchanged a knowing look with Mara. "We were hoping you would be awake because we have something for you."

Kenos frowned and wondered what it was; he kind of hoped they'd found and fixed his rifle. "What is it?"

Mara straightened her back and cleared her throat. When she spoke, her voice had a more professional edge, like a speaker at a seminar. "Kenos Ossinian, for the gallantry and bravery demonstrated by you during the events of the this war, I, Jedi Master Mara Jade Skywalker, confer upon you the rank of Jedi Knight." Leaning over the rails of the hospital bed, she kissed him on the cheek. "Congratulations," she said. 

Kenos smiled as he heard the words and turned bright red when Mara kissed him. He tried to shield his emotions and embarrassment but knew that it would be a useless gesture with the galaxy's most powerful Force users around. Instead, he let his emotions run freely in the Force. He started to thank them but Luke spoke before the words could escape his mouth.

"We should have given this to you long ago," said the galaxy's most powerful Jedi. "Your generation of Jedi, and you especially, have done more than enough to earn this title. You've shown that you have the maturity in the Force to handle the responsibilities the galaxy will put upon you." He smiled and Kenos could feel pride come from the older man. "People like you are what we need to win this war, and to rebuild the galaxy afterwards."

Kenos grinned like an idiot and blushed; he hadn't been expecting this. While training at the Academy, he'd always wondered what sort of trials he would have to pass to become a Knight, but when the war started he'd put such worries away. Now, it seemed that his childhood dream had come true—he'd become a Jedi Knight. Kenos only wished his father was still alive to hear the news. He allowed himself a moment to imagine the congratulatory words his father would have given him before returning his gaze to the elder Jedi. "Thank you, Masters," he stumbled. "I, uh…just thank you."

Mara smiled and patted his blanketed knee. "You haven't let us down yet, and we know you never will. Get some rest; the war is still on and we'll need you. The techs have your X-wing up to specs again, so you should be returning to the Wild Knights." 

The trio left Kenos' bedside and walked out of the infirmary. Left to his own thoughts, Kenos began to wonder what Numa would say to his promotion. When they'd met, she was already a Knight and surprised that Kenos wasn't. The fact that she out-ranked Kenos in the Jedi hierarchy became Numa's favorite way of playfully teasing her lover, but Kenos knew that she wouldn't be disappointed to hear about his promotion. Undoubtedly, she'd be happy for Kenos and would reward him with a warm hug.

_I want one of those hugs right now,_ he thought, a tremor in his mental voice. Remembering that he'd never experience one again turned the whole day bittersweet and brought tears to his eyes. Numa had been killed over a month ago, but it still felt like his heart had been ripped out of his body only yesterday. Shaking his head, he shut his eyes tightly to keep the tears inside. It took effort, and almost more strength than he had, but he managed to reign in his reeling emotions and enter a healing trance.

Borleias Occupation, Day 4

After a day of restful meditation, Kenos felt ready to leave the base's small infirmary. A young enlisted man was waiting for him at the infirmary's entrance and guided the Jedi to his room. Once inside, Kenos found that whoever had moved his belongings did a fairly good job of keeping it all intact. _But it's not like I have a whole lot of valuable things anymore._ Since losing Yavin IV and his pistol collection, Kenos didn't have much personal property besides his fighter, weapons, and his R7 droid, Tina.

"Tina," he called into the dark and empty room. "Where are you, sweetheart?"

The red-trimmed droid beeped a greeting and trundled to the entrance of the room from the refresher station. Kenos smiled at the astromech and patted her head. "It's nice to see you, too," he said, guessing what the droid's beeps and whistles meant. "I hope whoever was flying my fighter while I was gone took good care of you."

Tina produced a series of sharp beeps, and a translation appeared in the air above her holoprojector. THE NEW PILOT, FLIGHT OFFICER NAJIL KY, WAS A VERY SKILLED PILOT. I HAVE BEEN CONSIDERING REQUESTING A PERMANENT TRANSFER TO HIS SQUADRON.

After reading the message, Kenos rolled his eyes. "Keep talking that way and you'll find yourself staring at a memory wipe." He arched a brow and gave Tina an expression better suited on an angry parent. "Got that, young lady?"

Rolling around to return to her recharging port, Tina moved away and beeped about her owner's inability to grow a sense of humor.

Grinning, Kenos moved to his new room's bed and lay down. Though he was feeling well enough to leave the hospital, some after effects of the poison made it hard for him to stay on his feet for long lengths of time. The doctors said that it would take another few days for his body to replicate the anti-toxins in enough quantities to totally stamp out the venom, which meant that taking part in the regular patrols that swept the kill-zone was out of the question. _Which means that for the next few days, I'm going to be bored out of my mind._

With a sigh, he threw an arm over his eyes and wondered if he should try to sleep a little more. It was only a second after the realization that he shouldn't when he remembered something important. Sitting up so quickly that he made the world around him spin, he began searching for Tina. He didn't have to look far; the insightful droid was already by his bed with one of her compartments opened.

"Thanks, babe," hesaid to her as he reached into the opening and retrieved what was inside. The small holoprojector was a small disc only three centimeters wide, but it could display images of twice that length and three times that height. Hitting a small button on the side of the ring, Kenos sent the first image into the air.

An image of a young Twi'lek woman floated a few centimeters above his palm and smirked at him. He smiled back, then cycled through the next two holos. Both of the other images on the disks memory came through crystal clear, much to his relief. Tina hooted mournfully as he flipped through the holographs, which caused Kenos to look up at her as if noticing her for the first time.

"Thanks for taking care of this," he said to the droid. "This is very important to me." A gift given to him by Numa just before her death, the holoprojector was the only thing he had left that connected him to her. He usually carried it with him everywhere he went, but the high probability of damaging it during the retaking of Borleias caused him to leave it with someone. Since most of his friends were elsewhere in the galaxy, or going to take place in the invasion with him, he'd decided to leave it with Tina. _She keeps me safe every time I fly, so I knew she'd be able to bring this back to me unharmed._

He shut down the projector, kissed it lightly, and dropped it into one of the many pockets his jumpsuit had. Slowly standing, he addressed Tina. "I'm going to go see what kind of duty I can pull to keep myself from dying of boredom." He patted the droid's domed head. "I'll see you later."

Borleias Occupation, day 9

Kenos opened his cockpit, dropped to the hangar's deck, and sprinted for his squadron commander's blastboat. As per his orders, he'd pulled out of the battle around Pyria VI feigning severe damage to his craft, but as he headed back to the biotics facility, the Super Star Destroyer _Lusankya_ had dropped in-system. Kenos didn't know if that meant his orders had been changed, so he headed to Saba Sebatine's ship to find out. 

Though no one was exiting the ship, the blastboat's ramp was lowered. Kenos ran into the ship and headed for the small bridge. Once there, he briefly greeted the scientist Danni Quee who usually flew with Wild Knights before addressing Saba.

"Saba, was that Super Star Destroyer supposed to be out there?" Kenos asked. 

The reptilian Barabel shook her scaled head. "This one doez not know. This one was not informed of it."

"Command sent a message," Danni told Kenos. "Our orders are to stay here as planned. General Antilles has the situation out there worked out." 

Kenos bit his lip as he stared out the blastboat's viewport. The battle was too far out-system to be seen, but Kenos knew people were dying. He, along with his squadron-mates, wished he were out there, but orders were orders. _General Antilles knows what he's doing. After all, he has destroyed two Death Stars._

"Command also said to make room for another ship," Danni continued. "The _Millennium Falcon's_ coming in with a bunch of people."

"The survivors of the Myrkyr mission," Saba said with a dreamy quality to her voice. "I can feel Tesar out there."

Kenos sensed the Jedi near Pyria VI also. The pain they were all feeling after the costly assault on the voxyn queen was causing vibrations in the Force even non-Jedi like Danni Quee could pick up.

Out of all the hurting and tired Jedi, Kenos felt Alema Rar most. After Numa's death, she and Kenos had looked to each other to get themselves through their grief. Because he was afraid of losing another close friend, Kenos hadn't been happy with her decision to go on the strike mission—at least, not when circumstances dictated that he couldn't go with her. But it didn't matter now; Alema had survived and was heading to Borleias.

Excited to see a friend alive, Kenos left the blastboat to take care of his duties.

Some time later, after the _Lusankya_ demolished the mid-sized Yuuzhan Vong fleet sent to wrest control of Borleias from the New Republic, Kenos tucked a folder full of paper work under his arm and made his way through the large crowd that had gathered to greet the _Millennium Falcon_ and its passengers. 

Kenos recognized the first disembarking Jedi as Ganner Rhysode, a handsome young man that had always annoyed Kenos before the war started. As usual, Ganner was doing his best to strike the ladies of the crowd dead with his smile. "Oh, look at that one," a woman said to her friend as Kenos brushed past her. "He is _cute._" Rolling his eyes, Kenos kept moving and thanked the Force that Ganner hadn't heard the comment.

Alema was beside him, followed by Zekk, Tesar, Tahiri Veila, a young child Kenos didn't recognize, and, finally, the Solos. All of them were walking from the Falcon towards the hangar's entrance to the biotics facility. Jogging to the end of the crowd, Kenos managed to catch Alema before she went inside.

"Alema," Kenos called and waved the folder in the air.

The Twi'lek looked around for who had said her name, and once she found it was Kenos she grinned. "Hey!" she said excitedly as she engulfed her friend in a hug. "I thought I'd see you around here."

Alema pulled back, allowing Kenos to shrug. "How else can I keep you out of trouble?"

With a scowl, Alema punched Kenos' chest. "Shut up. I _don't_ need to be reminded of how many times you've pulled me out of the fire."

Kenos rubbed his aching chest but grinned. "Okay, sorry." He gestured towards the door to the biotics facility. "Come on, let's go inside."

"What about the them?" Alema asked, nodding her head towards the rest of the Jedi.

Kenos waved his hand and walked into the facility. "Billeting will take care of them." He hefted the folder in his hand. "I already took care of all your in-processing."

Alema smiled. "Well, that was nice of you. Thank you."

"Don't worry about it."

After another few turns through the long halls of the biotics facility, they arrived at Alema's designated room. Kenos opened the door and let her enter first. "That's yours," he said, referring to a small handbag on the bed. "It has a few changes of clothes courtesy of the New Republic Army." Alema moved to the bed, opened the bag, and nodded appreciably. "My comlink's code is on that folder, so call me whenever you're done settling in. We'll go to lunch, and I'll show you around this place." 

Alema sat heavily on the bed as Kenos began to leave. "Wait," she said, stopping Kenos halfway out of the door. "Thanks for all the help."

Kenos smiled. "No problem. Get some rest." Alema waved as he entered the brightly lit hallway and began to head back to his room.

He'd barely left when a Givin soldier walking the other way stopped. "Hey, Ossinian, we have a patrol tomorrow, right?"

With a grimace, Kenos consulted his memory. According to the rotation General Antilles had set up, his platoon was slated to sweep the kill-zone the next day. "Yeah, we do. Make sure first squad knows it's their turn."

Lusak nodded. "Yes, sir. By the way, Ossinian, who was that Twi'lek you were with a moment ago? Picking up the new women on-planet before the rest of us can?"

Kenos shook his head but took a moment to think of a response. It was hard to exactly categorize his relationship with Alema. He cared for her deeply, but not in the same way that he had for Numa. They had certainly become close friends, but the word didn't quite fit. After weighing and discarding some alternatives, Kenos came across the word that suited his relation to Alema perfectly. "She's not my girlfriend or anything. She's…more of a little sister."

Borleias Occupation, Day 32 

His flight helmet wasn't where he usually left it, so Kenos spent an extra ten minutes hunting for it. When he'd finally located it, he glanced at his chronometer, swore, then hurried out of his room. _Can't be late for the Goddess,_ he thought with smile. Since assuming the role of the avatar of Yun-Harla, the Yuuzhan Vong trickster goddess, and taking command of Twin Suns Squadron, Jaina Solo had become a busy young woman. She'd turned to Kenos for help with managing her duties, and he'd told her that he'd be glad to help train some of her newer pilots.

But for the month before Jaina's arrival, Kenos had been very busy himself. Between fending off Vong attacks, patrolling the jungle, and helping teach the scientist Danni Quee the ways of the Force, the young Jedi hardly had a moment to himself. On the rare occasions in which he wasn't on some sort of duty, he was usually with Tina, attempting to keep his X-wing up to specs. Kenos was many things—pilot, soldier, Jedi—but he was not a mechanic, so the repairs sucked up his spare time like a sponge. When he slept, he dreamed of the relatively carefree days of the Academy.

But now he was late for an appointment. Jogging through the halls of the Borleias base, he tried to make his way to the special operations hangar that housed Twin Suns and three other squadrons, including his own, the Wild Knights. As he neared an intersection, he felt a particularly bright Force presence closing on his right. The presence closed nearer, and he saw that it was Master Mara Jade Skywalker. Kenos bowed as best he could while jogging past her. "Master." 

Mara reached out and grabbed a hold of one of the sleeves of Kenos' flight suit and yanked him back. Dropping his helmet, Kenos jerked to a sudden stop. "Hold on a moment," Mara said. After looking him up and down, she frowned. "Do the Wild Knights have a mission today?"

Kenos shook his head. "No, I'm just going to help Jaina train some new pilots."

"Good," Mara said and tugged on his sleeve again. "You're going to have to skip that; I have something important for you to do. Come with me." She turned Kenos around and led the young Jedi to a turbolift. Once inside, she pressed a button that would take them to them to the fourth floor.

Kenos watched Mara hit the fourth floor button and his brows knitted together in confusion. _That's the floor where meetings are held._ "Master Mara, I mean no disrespect, but what's going on?" Kenos asked gently.

The turbolift stopped its ascent and Mara turned to Kenos with a smile. "Don't worry," she said as the doors opened. "An explanation's coming."

Walking out into the main corridor, Mara led him to the double doors of a meeting room. She opened them and the two entered a small room filled with a table lined with chairs. Kenos noticed that there were also two other occupants—the other Master Skywalker and a young human woman. Master Skywalker was standing but gestured for Kenos to sit next to the woman. Kenos nodded a greeting to the brunette as sat down next to her and glanced at her face. He didn't recognize her, but there was still something familiar about her. Deciding to figure it out later, he returned his attention to the Jedi Masters.

The woman frowned and Kenos felt a bit of annoyance from her. "What's this about, Luke?" she asked. Kenos was briefly surprised by her lack of formality; obviously, this woman knew Master Skywalker well enough to call him by his first name. He logged that datapoint away and looked to Luke silently; he also wanted to know what this was about.

Both Skywalkers sat down across from Kenos and the woman. Lacing his fingers together, Luke leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. "We have a mission for you two," he said. He lifted one index finger. "But everything said in this room stays in this room. Got that?" Kenos and the woman both nodded, so Luke continued. "Good. Some of the high command has put together a small group that is used for planning and carrying out special missions. I'm sure you've both heard of the Insiders."

Kenos nodded. He'd heard some rumors about General Antilles' group of advisors, but he only thought that they gave advice to the General. What Luke said implied that they were something more that just an advisory council. The woman next to Kenos must have been thinking along the same lines. "You want us to do one of these secret missions," she said. It was not a question. 

Mara smiled. "That's right, Clea. We need you to drop off some of our operatives on a planet, then return. You fly there, spend about a few hours there, then come back here." She turned her palms towards the ceiling. "It's that simple."

"Where are we going?" asked Kenos. If he had to guess, he'd say that they were being sent to a world near occupied space, where operatives would be needed. Kenos emphatically hoped it was not an occupied planet; he'd flown into occupied worlds and knew that they were no picnic. On the other hand, plenty of Jedi had been killed or captured on worlds that were still in the hands of the New Republic, so even this mission could prove dangerous.

Mara smirked slightly before answering. "Sullust," she said, and Kenos brightened noticeably. He hadn't seen his homeworld since his father's death four years earlier. "You two have been very active for a while, and have been through a lot in the recent months, so we've decided to give you a sort of rest." She looked to Clea and smiled. "Kenos here will show you around Sullust for the time you'll be there." 

"Also," Luke put in, "because you've done something like this before, Kenos, you should be a big help." He was referring to the time Kenos had helped Kyp Durron smuggle weapons for the New Plympto resistance. While he disliked Kyp strongly, Kenos did believe in the resistance and in its leaders.

Like almost everything, the thought reminded him of Numa. Blinking suddenly moist eyes, he returned back to the present. "I'll do my best, Master," he said strongly.

Mara reached out and took his hand; she'd picked up what the younger Jedi had just felt. It was the reason why they'd chosen him for the straightforward mission. "We know you will," she said.

Luke turned his gaze to Clea, who'd been waiting patiently. "Clea, you'd be in charge, seeing as how we'd like to use your ship for this." He smiled as her eyebrows rose. "Didn't we mention that earlier?"

Clea squinted her eyes. "No, you didn't mention that earlier. But, I know you guys will need all the ships you have, so we'll take the _Jay._" 

"Good," Luke said while standing. "Be ready to leave in half a standard hour." With waves, the Force-sensitive couple left the room.

Turning her chair more towards Kenos, Clea extended her hand. "Clea Kendel. Nice to meet you."

Kenos took the offered hand and shook it. "Kenos Ossinian. A pleasure."

"So," she said, leaning back to put her feet up on the table. "What do you think of this?"

Kenos shrugged and slumped a little in his chair. "Sounds simple enough, but you never know nowadays. It'll be great to see home again, though."

Clea frowned and cocked her head. "You're from Sullust? That would explain why you're supposed to show me around."

Kenos nodded and smirked; here came the old _I didn't know humans lived on Sullust_ line. "Yeah, I was born there. There aren't many of us humans there, but there are a few."

"Oh, yeah, I knew that." She stood and stretched. When she finished, she turned loose a smile at Kenos that he was sure drove men wild. "Come on, we better go power up the ship. Ever flown a YT-2500?"

Kenos stood and followed the pretty young woman out of the room. "No, never. I've always wanted to, though."

"Well, here's your chance," she said as they stopped at the turbolifts. Kenos hit the call button, and as they waited for a lift to arrive Clea gave him a serious look. "Just don't go fighter-jock on her and try to put her through barrel rolls."

Kenos put up his arms, palms outward. From the lift came a _ding_ and the doors opened. "No, ma'am. I'll take good of her." Both entered the lift and descended to the hangar in silence.

On the ride down, Kenos wondered what part of Sullust he was going to visit. Given his choice, he would prefer Niukatan City, the city of his birth, but he'd be happy with just about anywhere on planet. _Any excuse to get away from Borleias and the constant fighting here is good enough for me._

The doors parted and Kenos walked into the hangar. He followed Clea through the crowded bay, careful not to interrupt the work of the busy mechanics. He'd learned the hard way that the mechanics there were pulling more shifts than usual and were very irritable if disturbed. After passing a dozen red striped X-wings—the fighters belonging to the legendary Rogue Squadron—he saw the familiar disc shape of a Corellian transport. Clea headed right toward it, so Kenos assumed it was Clea's ship, the _Jay_. 

When they reached the ship, Clea marched up the extended gangway and waved Kenos forward. He followed her to the cockpit and took the co-pilot's seat. "The controls on this are pretty similar to a YT-2000's," said Clea. "If you're familiar with those."

Kenos nodded and took the liberty of flipping the starting switches of the power up sequence. "I'm familiar with those."

Clea looked at him as he worked the control board and smirked. "I see." She, too, began flipping the switches designated for the pilot during power up. They started slowly, but it became apparent quickly that it was a race. As rapidly as possible, the two turned dials and knobs, trying to be the first one done. 

Kenos finished all he could on the main control board and realized that the last switch was above and behind him. Clea saw that he wouldn't be able to hit the button before she finished and a grin of satisfaction spread across her face. Kenos didn't feel that she had won just yet, however. With the Force, he hit the last button and sat back in his seat, his arms folded across his chest. Clea, who was still busy with her checklist, hadn't noticed his completion. When she finished a second later, she leaned back and smirked at Kenos. "Done!" she announced.

Kenos smirked right back. "Me too," he said cheerfully.

Clea frowned, looking confused. "What? How did you...you cheated didn't you?"

Kenos shrugged. "I may have used the Force just a tad."

Clea glared at him until he was afraid that he'd really angered her. A moment later, Clea's angry expression dissolved into a smile and light laughter. She shook her head and faced forward again. Kenos kept his smirk until he felt two more people boarding the ship. "I think our passengers have arrived," he said.

Twisting in her seat, Clea looked back towards the main section of the ship. One of the two insurgents, who understandably didn't introduce themselves, told them that they were ready to leave. Clea asked for clearance, received it, and the two lifted the Jay off the ground. 

It was daytime at their part of the base, but their exit vector required that they cross the planet's terminator line. The Yuuzhan Vong had dovin basal mines blockading much of the Pyria system, but Sullust was deeper into New Republic held territory, so the Vong had that stretch of space lightly defended. As the _Jay_ left the gravity well of Borleias behind, Clea put it onto the appropriate vector and pulled back the hyperspace lever. With a flicker of pseudo-motion, the Corellian freighter leapt forward and entered a tunnel of revolving light.

Hitting the inter-ship speakers, Clea leaned forward and informed their passengers that they were on their way. She carefully leaned back and put her feet up on the console, reclineing as far back as her chair would allow. Linking her hands behind her head, she glanced at Kenos who was still seated in a normal position. "You can relax, too."

"Ok, then," he said and adopted a position identical to Clea's. He sat silently for a moment, taking in the layout of the ship around him. "Have you ever delivered supplies to the Jedi Academy?" Kenos asked suddenly aware that this ship, along with its captain, looked a little familiar.

She nodded as she looked out at the brightness of hyperspace. "Yeah. Luke always took good care of me, so I kept doing it for him at low cost." She grinned. "I always liked the fact that you Jedi would unload everything for me." 

Kenos grinned and shook his head. "Do you know how times I'd wake up not able to move because I was so sore? I _hated_ having to move that stuff."

"Quit whining," she admonished jokingly. "It made you strong, I bet."

Kenos nodded; those trips had indeed made him bigger and stronger. "Yeah, it sure did." _Well, I guess that explains how she knows Master Skywalker._

Clea stayed quiet for a moment before speaking again. "So, you've done this before?" Kenos could feel a little nervousness drift from her.

"Well, sort of. I ran guns for a resistance movement a while back." He shrugged. "This'll be easier; Sullust isn't occupied."

Clea's eyes went wide and she whipped her head around to stare incredulously at him. "You ran supplies into an _occupied_ world?" Shaking her head, she looked back out the viewport. "I'll never understand you Jedi." 

"Getting in wasn't that bad. Well, it was, but I had an escort with me. Waiting around while the Vong tore the planet apart looking for me was the tough part. I couldn't leave for two weeks because the patrols were so thick." He smiled as he remembered the time he'd spent with Numa during those days. Though most of the time she was busy with the Resistance, she'd always managed to find ways to be with him. It wasn't the usual romance—most couples don't have to keep moving to avoid enemy patrols or harass Vong convoys—but Kenos was extremely happy to be a part of it.

He tried to dwell on the cheerful memories, but the sad ones forced their way into his mind. The happiness he'd manage to build up with Numa was shattered when he'd heard of her death. Alema Rar was injured in the same attack that killed her sister and was in a bacta tank for days afterward. When she'd recovered, she and Kenos lamented together. Over two months later, it hurt them both terribly to even think of it.

Wanting to chase away the dark memories, hedecided to immerse himself in the current mission. Tapping a few keys on his console, he brought up a map of Sullust. "The Masters want us to land in Liuvatal, a city under the southern hemisphere." _Under_ was correct word to describe the city's location. The volcano-covered surface of Sullust, being coated with lava and smothered in toxic gases, was not the most ideal place for a civilization. Instead, the Sullustans built their cities in the dark caverns under the surface of the planet. Evolving in such dark places gave them an innate affinity for navigation, which is why many Sullustans were seen in such duties. Kenos, however, was not of the species, merely from the same planet, and so he had no such leanings towards navigation. _That's what astromechs and navicomputers are for,_ he thought.

"Good area?" Clea asked. He shrugged and nodded, and expression that suggested that there were worse places to set down. "Well, we've got a few hours until we get there," she said as she stood. "Might as well get some rest." She walked out of the cockpit towards her cabin. Kenos, agreeing with Clea, closed his eyes and used the Force to shut his body down.

Some time later, a constant beeping from the console roused Kenos from his trance. Opening his eyes, he scanned the board for the source of the annoying noise. He found it and discovered that it was the ship's proximity warning; the ship was nearing Sullust and was preparing to drop out of hyperspace. Slapping the intercom, Kenos woke Clea and told her that they were close to their destination. A minute later, she was in the cockpit.

"Prepare the sublight engines," she said to Kenos. He stood to hit the switches above and behind his chair. Unlike the older YT-1300, the YT-2500's sublight engines were operated by the co-pilot to free the captain for more important affairs.

Kenos flipped the two switches and the tunnel of light outside shattered back into millions of starpoints. The craggy, gray world of Sullust hung in front of and slightly above the freighter. Clea guided her craft into a spacelane and waited to be hailed. When the hail came, it came in Sullustan. Clea frowned in confusion, began to ask for a translation, but stopped when Kenos spoke into the comm. Though it had been years since he'd used Sullustan, the liquid language came from his mouth just as easily as it had when he'd lived there.

After the conversation, Kenos relayed the coordinates of the spaceport to Clea in Basic. She led the Jay through the toxic atmosphere and over the lava scorched surface to a large canyon. The flight plan dictated that she fly her craft through the canyon—which was easily wide enough to fit four Jays abreast—and into a tunnel that led to the docking spaces. 

After a few minutes, Clea became very bored with seeing nothing but rock through the viewports. Kenos, however, was staring at the canyon walls as if seeing stone for the first time. The grin on his face was better suited on a child during his sixth birthday, but it showed just how happy he was to be back on his homeworld. Clea had to smile at how cute it was. "Welcome home," she said to the young Jedi.

Kenos grinned at her. "Thanks. Since we lost Yavin IV, this is the only one I have left."

Finally at their designated spot, Clea set the Jay down. Kenos and Clea unbuckled their straps and headed back to see to their passengers off. Entering the main cabin, they found the two operatives with their bags shouldered and ready to go. "Thanks for the ride, Captain," said the first one, a Sullustan female. The other, a human male, said the same and the two began to head towards the gangway with Clea and Kenos following them.

"No problem," said Clea as she hit the button to lower the platform. She and Kenos waved to the team as they disappeared into the spaceport's crowd. Turning to Kenos, Clea clapped her hands together. "So, that's that. What now? Lunch?"

At the mention of food, Kenos suddenly noticed that he was hungry. "Yeah, lunch sounds like a good idea. Let's go." He had just started to head down the walkway when a stray thought struck him. Taking his lightsaber from his belt, he put it inside his robes where it could not be seen. "Don't want to attract too much attention," he explained to Clea, who nodded in agreement. The pair headed down the ramp, and after Clea closed the gangway, out into the spaceport.

Liuvatal was only a medium-sized city, but its spaceport carried many of the things that larger ones did. Restaurants were in a special section of the port that required hovertrain transportation to reach. After finding a hovertrain, Clea sat down and took in the sights of the Liuvatal spaceport silently.

Kenos sat, but closed his eyes and spread his senses outward. Through the Force, he could feel the emotions of the people around him, but that wasn't what he was searching for. He stretched out further, engulfing miles of area around him, and finally felt it. Even as a child, with no Force training, Sullust had always had a certain familiar feel to him. When he returned to the planet for his father's funeral, the background hum of life on the planet was much more pronounced.

While Kenos was focused inward, Clea was alert and keeping an eye on everyone and everything. For a reason she didn't quite understand, a Sullustan man on the other side of the car caught her attention. The shabbily dressed Sullustan had a look of hate in his large eyes and one of his hands was resting on something inside his vest. Suddenly, the man stood and began to head towards Clea and Kenos. _Frell, he saw me,_ Clea thought. The thug pulled his hand partly out of his vest and Clea saw light reflect off of the black handle of a blaster. "Kenos," she whispered and pounded a hand on his leg.

Kenos jerked his head toward her in surprise. "Yeah?"

"He's armed. That guy right there," she jerked her head in the approaching man's direction.

Kenos squinted his eyes but didn't see any weapon. He very passively probed the man with the Force but didn't feel any malice directed at them. "I don't think he's going to hurt us," he whispered with a shake of his head.

And the Sullustan didn't. He passed them and headed more towards the rear of their car. Clea sagged a bit in relief and berated herself for being so jumpy while Kenos closed his eyes again. A moment later, the two jerked their heads backwards when they heard a woman scream. The thug had pulled the blaster from his vest and had it jammed against another man's temple. The thug began shouting orders at the people around him. "Get back! Get back or he gets it! Gimme all your jewels! Yeah, you lady, let's go."

Kenos didn't pay attention to the man's words. Abandoning his plan to keep a low profile, he opened himself to the Force and ripped the Sullustan's blaster from his hands. The weapon landed in the Jedi's open palm, already pointed back at its former owner. "Let him go," Kenos said. The thug let his prisoner go and put his hands up. The people applauded, and some cheered, as Kenos took the thug and tried to find a nearby security officer. 

On the other side of the car, security officer Krevin Legad saw the scene play out. He was not surprised when the man pulled out a weapon; it was part of the plan. He _was_ surprised, however, to see a man telekinetically wrench the blaster from the thug's hands. _A Jedi!_ The thought sent a thrill of excitement through him. Visions of cases full of credits arriving at his office danced before his eyes and he began salivating. He squinted his eyes, a signal telling the creature resting behind one of them to begin recording what he saw. When the Jedi approached him with the thug, Legad made sure he got a good look of his face. He thanked the young Jedi, who nodded and headed back to his seat, then pulled out his comlink. Moving to another car so as not to be heard, Legad began speaking to his superior in the Peace Brigade.

After handing the would-be crook to the authorities, Kenos and Clea finished the hovertrain ride and had lunch without further incident. After the check was paid—which Kenos couldn't dissuade Clea from doing—the two took another train back to their ship. "I'm ready to head back," said Clea as she and Kenos stepped of the train and began heading back to the Jay. "Borleias isn't what I like to call home, but I've gotten used to it."

Kenos nodded, totally understanding. "Yeah, I've started to find the constant explosions almost comforting," he said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice. Clea smiled politely at the joke and kept heading towards the Jay. After passing a repulsorcab station that had been empty and unnoticeable on the way out, they reached the freighter. Using a small control to open the ramp, Clea led Kenos into the ship.

Two steps into the main cabin, Kenos opened himself to the Force again. One step after that, he stopped and reached for his lightsaber. He moved his thumb toward the activation button, but before he could bring the blade to life he felt a blaster barrel against his neck. "Don't move, either of you," said a heavily accented female voice. Kenos took his thumb away from the activations switch and held his lightsaber out to his side in a loose grip; a second later, a hand took it away. "Good, Jedi, real good. Now you."

Moving only his eyes, Kenos looked at Clea and saw that she was half way through drawing her blaster. She stopped her draw, and slowly knelt to place the blaster on the deck. Rising with her hands held high, she frowned. "What's this about?" she asked angrily.

The woman spun Kenos around and put the barrel of her blaster a centimeter away from Kenos's left eye; Kenos just stared into the attractive human's eyes with an almost bored expression. The woman—who looked _very_ familiar to Kenos for some reason—smiled at his display of bravery and pressed her lips together in a mock kiss. "We only came to get the Jedi here." The woman was dressed as a security officer and looked Kenos up and down. "Looks like I got lucky and found a pretty one, Zeekas," she said to an Arcona behind her that was training a blaster on Clea. Kenos noted that he was also dressed as a security officer.

The Arcona shrugged. "You humans all look alike to me, Vocina." 

Vocina grimaced at her companion and turned back to Kenos. She smiled at him and stood on her toes to get close to his ear. "Don't worry," she whispered, her thick Corellian accent made it hard to understand her. "I'll try to get the boss to let me keep you for myself." She lowered herself back to the floor. "Zeekas, check their pockets."

Kenos was searched first. The Arcona searched every pocket on his vest and pants, but only came up with a few items. Dread turned Kenos' guts to ice when he saw Zeekas turn on his holoprojector. The image of Numa, this one of her blowing a kiss to the camera, hung in the air as Zeekas looked it over appraisingly. "Twi'lek, huh? Now, _there's_ something I can appreciate." He looked to his partner. "Looks like your catch already has himself a really pretty girlfriend."

Vocina, who had taken Kenos' pistol and was examining it, gave Kenos a disappointed look. "Oh, that's too bad." She shrugged. "I guess we just give you to the boss."

Jaw tightened in restrained anger, Kenos glared at the Arcona. "Give that back," he commanded, using the Force to drive the words into the Arcona's mind. "Right now."

Zeekas blinked in confusion, and began to do as told, but Vocina stopped him. "Stop falling for those tricks, stupid," she chided. "Let's just get these two out of here."

Kenos allowed himself to be led while he began ticking off possible ways out the situation in his head. Undoubtedly, Vocina and Zeekas had backup near, so it only took a moment to realize that trying anything in the spaceport would only lead to more trouble. _Besides, I'll never be able to suppress both the pirates without one of them damaging Clea._ He sighed in vexation. _Or the projector._

The two Peace Brigaders—at least, that's what Kenos assumed they were—led Kenos and Clea away from the ship and into dimly lit alley. As the walked away from the Jay, Kenos felt, and Clea watched, another team of Peace Brigaders enter the ship and close it. Kenos had only begun to wonder what they were doing when the reached a landspeeder at the intersection of the alley and a small road. The road ran between a long row of buildings and the large stone mass that marked the limits of every Sullustan city. 

Instead of being put inside the speeder, Kenos and Clea were told to stand next to it. Sighing, Vocina turned her blaster's power output to stun and looked at Kenos with an almost apologetic face. "Sorry. I hate to do this to that face, but I have to stun you." She shrugged. "Can't have you escaping and all."

"I understand," Kenos said and nodded as if he really did. He hoped his humor was a good cover for what he was about to attempt.

Inside the blaster, energy designed to overload a being's nerves leapt forward. Letting the Force flood through him, Kenos raised a hand and telekinetically pushed Vocina's arm. The blast knocked her blaster out of alignment with Kenos, but into perfect position to hit her Arcona companion. Shuddering and unconscious, Zeekas flopped to the deck.

Seeing the tip of Vocina's blaster spin away from her, Clea ran forward and swung a fist at Vocina's face. The mercenary fell to the ground and stayed there. Just to be safe, however, Clea took her pistol and stunned her.

After searching Vocina's body, Kenos recovered his lightsaber and looked at what Clea did to her face. "Nice hit," he commented. "You could be an Adumarian ground champion."

Clea frowned. "A what?"

Kenos shook his head. "Nothing. Let's just get out of here before someone finds our handiwork."

"I think it's too late for that."

Kenos looked at Clea quizzically, so she gestured down the hall. Standing and gripping his lightsaber, Kenos saw a gang of Sullustan security police shouting orders into comlinks and pointing in their direction. _That can't be good._ "Um...get in the speeder." Another search of Vocina's unconscious form yielded the starter chip for the landspeeder. Kenos took it, then headed towards the speeder with Clea.

He was a meter away from it when he realized Zeekas still had his holoprojector. With a strong sense of urgency, he spun around to head back to the Arcona's body but didn't get a step forward before a Sullustan security officer fired a stun blast at him. Reflexes increased by the Force allowed him to dodge the bolt, but Kenos knew that he wouldn't be able to evade all the bolts that would head his way if he ran back to the Arcona to search for the projector.

Slowly, reluctantly, he turned away from the last connection he had to Numa and ran back to the speeder. He knew it had to be done to save him and Clea, but every step away from the projector shot slugs into heart. It felt like losing her again, as if he were leaving her to be captured by enemy.

When his back was totally turned to the projector, Kenos saw Clea sitting in the passenger seat, radiating fear into the Force. _She needs your help,_ he told himself. _And you need hers. Neither of you is getting out of this without the other._

Seated in the speeder and scanning the area nervously, Clea noticed two lights approaching. As they neared, she realized it was a police speeder. "I think we should go that way," she said and jerked her thumb backwards.

Kenos, seeing the same thing, nodded and threw the speeder into reverse. "I think you're right." Hitting the accelerator, he sent the speeder zooming backwards. He twisted the control yoke right and left in an attempt to avoid hitting the walls of the narrow road, but had little success. Sparks flew up to blind Kenos as the wall and the speeder made contact time and time again. Blaster bolts—killing shots, not stun blasts—leapt from the security speeder and hit the hood of the speeder, causing more sparks to shoot into the dark streets. Not able to maneuver away from their attacker's shots, Kenos wondered just how long the speeder was going to hold out.

Maneuverability was suddenly granted to him when the speeder entered a large intersection. Taking immediate advantage of the extra space, Kenos whipped the yoke to the left. He used the Force to resist the gravitational forces, but Clea was not so well equipped for the situation. Smashed against the window, she cursed and yelled at Kenos to warn her next time. Kenos grinned and stopped their turn when they had rotated to one hundred and eighty degrees. Gunning the repulsorlifts, and grunting through the sudden acceleration, Kenos sent the speeder racing down the empty road. More blaster bolts followed them, but the speeder's rear transparisteel window ablated them.

Kenos kept his eyes scanning the caverns for a way off the road; there was no way they could outrun the officers forever. Clea had been thinking along the same lines. "Take a left!" she suddenly yelled. Unquestioningly, he threw the yoke to the left, sending Clea's head into his shoulder.

"Hey, it's better than the window," he said in response to her curses. 

After taking a look around the area he'd just turned the speeder, it was his turn to curse. They'd turned into a back road of the spaceport that was filled with old freighters and cargo loading machines.

"Maybe I made a mistake," Clea said as she realized what the place was. It was a hangar, and one with only one exit.

Kenos started to ask if the police were still following them but a red laser bolt answered the question before it was verbalized. He tried to think of what to do but was drawing a blank. Clea spotted a large junked freighter that had its gangway down. An idea formed in Clea's head but it would require too much time to communicate it to Kenos. Just before they passed by the ramp, Clea leaned over and pushed the yoke to the left. The speeder suddenly veered right for the freighter at almost its top speed. Panicked, Kenos grabbed the activation chip and removed it from its socket. The now un-powered speeder coasted up the ramp and came to a halt inside the ship's large cargo bay. "Time to get out," said Clea.

The pair hopped out of the speeder but crouched behind it to remain hidden from the security forces that surely saw their maneuver. "Ok, what now?" asked Clea as she pulled out Vocina's pistol.

Kenos frowned at her. "You don't have another idea?"

"It's your turn," she countered.

Kenos snorted and pulled out his lightsaber, racking his brain for another escape plan. He only had the beginnings of a strategy in his head when he felt police enter the ship. Beams of light from their glowrods danced up and down the cargo bay as the officers searched for them. From his hiding spot, Kenos could see that the officers were directly between him, Clea, and the exit. The only way out was to fight their way through the police, and while some or most of the officers were certainly on the Peace Brigade payroll, he couldn't guarantee that innocents wouldn't get hurt.

With a sigh, he dropped his lightsaber and stood with his hands up.

"What are you _doing_?" asked Clea with a disbelieving look on her face. "Get _down_!"

Kenos shook his head as officers spotted him and headed towards him. "Anything we try to do will get people killed. Don't worry; I'll get us out of wherever they put us." Two officers took his hands and put them in binders. Another nudged him with his blaster and Kenos started walking forward.

"I'm so reassured," Clea said sarcastically as a Sullustan binded her hands. A minute later, she and Kenos were riding uncomfortably to the local Peace Brigade headquarters.

"I thought you were going to get us out of here," Clea said for the fifth time in the hour while she paced back and forth in the cell. 

Kenos rolled his eyes from where he was laying on one of the cell's cots. "I'm thinking," he replied a little testily for the fifth time. He understood Clea's impatience with him but it was starting to make him lose his with her. Taking a deep breath to clear his mind, he began taking stock of what they had available to them. _Well, I have... the Force._ He sighed. _And that's about it._ He'd been mulling over what to do with the Force for the better part of an hour, but his options were limited. The doors and walls that encased them were made of meter-thick duracreet, and the roof only led to another floor of cells. There were no guards around to trick into setting them free, but that hardly mattered because Kenos wasn't very good at mind tricks anyway.

Just when his mind examined and discarded the last of their options, Kenos felt someone approach the door. He kept an eye on the meal slot that was near the floor and was mildly surprised when the whole door opened. Standing in the doorway was Vocina, now with a black eye as dark as her uniform. She poked her head inside to make sure they both were in the cell while Kenos frowned and stood. "Come to take us to the boss?" he asked.

She looked at him and Kenos got a very good view of her eye. He only barely managed to resist backing away. _Wow, Clea, you should seriously consider a career in boxing._

"I've come to get you out of here," said Vocina. She looked at Clea. "And you."

Kenos gawked, and Clea frowned. "What?" Clea asked. "Why are you helping us?" 

"Because I'm an NRI agent, so it's my job," she said without a trace of the accent she had earlier. She handed Kenos his lightsaber then hesitantly handed a blaster to Clea. "Now, come on, let's get out of here." She left the cell and Clea followed her with Kenos close behind. They began walking down the long hall of cells to a turbolift. It all looked familiar to Kenos from their march into the cell, but he was still very confused by the situation. 

"Wait, what? You're NRI?" His voice echoed loudly through the hall. A Sullustan officer came out of an office and began blasting questions at Vocina. She answered in very good Sullustan, but it was obvious that the guard was not buying any of her excuses. Wanting more confirmation of Vocina's clearance, he began to speak into a comlink—at least for the moment it took Vocina to draw her pistol and put him down with a stun shot.

She stared at Kenos as the body slumped to the ground. "Could you not be so loud next time?" Sighing, she shook her head. "Why are the pretty ones always so dumb?" she mumbled and began to lead them back to the turbolift.

"Good question," Clea agreed. Vocina gazed at her for second, tried to detect sarcasm in the comment, then smiled. Clea returned the smile and the two women shared a chuckle, much to Kenos' disbelief.

_An hour ago, Clea punched her in the face,_ he thought. _Now they're buddy-buddy?_ Shaking his head, he resigned himself to going his whole life without understanding women.

Clea reached the turbolift first and hit the call button. While waiting, Kenos extended his senses but felt no immediate danger. No immediate danger didn't mean there wasn't any danger, however, so he kept a look out down the hall anyway. "So your name really isn't Vocina, is it?" he asked conversationally. 

"No, it's not." Kenos could almost feel her smile. "Maybe I'll tell you what it really is later. After we get out of here." The turbolift doors opened, and she entered. Kenos followed after her but Clea beat him to a spot next to Vocina—or whatever her real name was.

"Sorry about hitting you earlier," said Clea as the turbolift began to rise the ten floors between them and the surface. "I really thought you were Peace Brigade scum." She extended her empty hand. "Can we be friends?"

Vocina took it and smiled. "Sure. We are on the same side after all." She might have said more but the lift stopped its ascension and opened. In front of the door were seven security officers with blaster rifles pointed at them.

Kenos immediately ignited his lightsaber. "Blast them!" came the order from the commander, and a hail of red lasers flew at the Jedi. Using the Force to speed him, Kenos deflected four of the bolts as the two women hid behind him. The bolts hit his blue blade and were sent back to the soldiers that had fired them, dropping them to the ground. Two bolts passed the group and left harmless smoking craters in the back of the lift. One lucky shot, however, came in low enough to escape the Jedi's blade, clip his leg, and singe Clea's shin. She screamed, but Kenos pushed the pain away and concentrated on deflecting more bolts. Luckily for him, the doors closed before more shots could be fired and Vocina dived onto a button that sent the lift down fifteen levels. 

Temporarily out of danger, Kenos shut down his blade and turned to Clea, who had dropped to the floor, gripping her burnt left leg. As quickly as possible, Kenos removed Clea's left boot and sock then pushed her pant leg up as far as it would go. While Clea cursed in pain he placed a hand on the four-centimeter long burn. Though most of his concentration was being used to keep his own pain at bay, he still had enough focus to sooth the scorched nerves with the Force. Vocina used a vibroblade to cut a sleeve from Kenos' tunic then placed the makeshift bandage on Clea's wound. Feeling a bit stronger, Clea replaced her boot and stood. "Thanks," she grunted through gritted teeth. She jerked her head towards Kenos smoking boot. "Now yours."

Vocina moved to help the Jedi but the lift's doors opened, this time to an empty storage room. Clea and Vocina each took one of Kenos' arms over their shoulders and helped him to a waist-high container. He sat while the women stripped his leg to address the wound. After peeling back the burned pants from the deep divot, it was obvious to Clea that Kenos had received the worse of the bolt and counted herself thankful to the young Jedi.

They had no medical supplies with them, but they did what they could to the charred part of his leg and replaced his boot. Vocina began wandering between the scattered cargo containers, searching for a way back to the spaceport. "If I remember correctly," she said as she started to walk between the large columns of supplies. "There should be a loader around here. We use it to ship supplies directly here from the spaceport."

Kenos and Clea followed as best they could with limps and kept their eyes open. "Great," Clea said sarcastically. "Glad we solved that problem. Now for the big one. How about you tell us who you really are and why we should trust you?"

Vocina nodded; she'd been expecting some comment along those lines. "My real name is Tina Holinex. I'm an NRI agent, and I know I can't prove that, but who else do you have to trust?" Taking a turn in between two columns, the loader came into view. Vocina—_Tina_, Kenos and Clea corrected themselves simultaneously and unknowingly—quickened her stride as they neared it, causing the two to hobble a little faster. "Besides, I busted you out of that cell, didn't I?" 

Kenos heard her name and his jaw dropped faster than a Hutt on a high gravity world. "Tina Holinex! The actress?" Tina smiled and nodded, which sent Kenos into a frenzy. "Really? Wow! Oh, man, this is crazy!" He smiled broadly and glanced at Clea, who was looking at Kenos as if he'd just declared his allegiance to the Sith. "She was in Warp Star and Great Trip," Kenos explained. Clea just shrugged.

"That's right," said Tina as they reached the loader. She opened the driver's side door and began to climb into it. "Good memory. Those are old holos."

Clea tried to climb into the loader's bed but seemed to have trouble with her leg. Kenos gave her a little telekinetic push to help her up. "Thanks," she said.

"No problem," the last word came out as a grunt as he took Clea's offered hand and pulled himself onto the truck's flat back. Just as he sat down, Tina started the loader and moved it forward. She guided it out of the storage room and into a wide tunnel that was laser straight for as far as Kenos could see. From his memory he pulled out how far the spaceport was; combining that with the loader's crawling maximum velocity he figured that the trip might take a while.

"So, what celebrity is driving this thing?" asked Clea. "You seem to be a fan. And with good reason; she's cute."

He grinned and blushed. "That's Tina Holinex. She was an actress, but last I'd heard, she disappeared right after the invasion started." He shrugged. "I guess we know what really happened to her, don't we?"

Clea smirked. "Yeah, looks like we do." She glanced at Kenos's red face and chuckled. "A bit infatuated, are you?"

His blush turned brighter and he turned away, embarrassed. "Yeah. I mean I was a few years ago, when I was a young kid." He laughed and wiped a hand over his face. "It's kind of gone, though. But I did name my astromech after her, that's how bad it was."

Clea laughed but covered her hand with her mouth when she saw Kenos' hurt expression. "I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you, really. It's kind of cute, that's all." Her shoulders shook with silent mirth and Kenos brightened.

"Well, at least it's cute." He smiled, but a moment later it faded away. "Hey, Clea? Um, I know she was undercover and in character and all that, but do you think she really meant it when she called me handsome?"

Clea halted her laugh this time. She cleared her throat and put a hand on Kenos' arm. "I'm sure she meant it all. Especially the 'pretty ones are always dumb' comment." Smiling, she held up a hand. "Just kidding. I'm sure _that_ part was a joke." She shrugged. "But why don't you just ask her yourself?"

Eyes wide with incredulity, he shook his head. "I can't do that!" He jerked his thumb towards the cab of the loader. "That's Tina Holinex in there." Clea stared at him blankly. "_Tina Holinex._ I...I couldn't do that."

Clea slapped his arm. "Don't be so scared. I may not have the Force, but I think she meant what she said." Kenos frowned, so Clea attempted to clarify. "Call it a woman's intuition."

Kenos set his jaw and glanced around nervously. "It's not only that she's a famous actress." He stumbled over the next few words. "I have other reasons."

"Oh?" Clea said, indirectly asking what they were.

"Yeah," he responded. Turning his gaze outward to the scenery around them, he decided to say no more of it. Talking about Numa just brought pain. Blinking back tears, Kenos tried to cast away all thoughts that reminded him of the past two months. Even though he thought he did a good job of covering his emotions, Clea must have noticed something. She sidled closer to him a bit and patted his arm.

"We should take this time to get a little rest," she said lightly. Closing her eyes, she was asleep in moments. Kenos looked at her as he felt her drift off.

_It has been a long day,_ he thought. _Maybe a quick nap isn't such a bad idea._ He shut his suddenly heavy eyes and joined Clea in slumber.

"Wake up, you two," said Tina. Kenos slowly opened his eyes and felt Clea's head on his shoulder. He tapped her leg and she awoke. Rubbing the sleep from their eyes, they both looked around to see where they were. They found themselves in another storage area but this one was decidedly emptier than the last. Beside them, there was an open door that led to a hall identical to the one that was outside their cell.

"This is the spaceport?" Clea asked as she and Kenos stood.

Tina nodded and helped them both off the bed of the loader. "Yeah, pretty much. We're about three levels below your ship." She bit her lip and looked around nervously. "Um, can I ask a favor?"

"Well, you did break us out," said Clea. "What do you need?" Kenos made a comment that paralleled hers and went to look down the hall.

"My cover's blown here. When that happens, I'm supposed to get to whatever New Republic base I can." She looked down and shuffled some dirt with her foot. Kenos remembered it as an action she'd used in one of her holos. "Can my team and I catch a ride back to your base?" 

Normally, hearing that he was going to be spending time on a starship with Tina Holinex would have excited Kenos, but he wasn't paying attention to the conversation of the two women behind him. Instead, he shoved his hands into his pants pockets to search for his projector. When he didn't find it, he sighed and leaned his head against the doorjamb and stared down the long hallway ahead of him. 

"Of course," Clea said to Tina. "I'm always willing to help out someone on our side."

Tina smiled. "Thanks." She went back to the cab and grabbed her blaster and something else. Excusing herself from Clea, she walked to where Kenos was standing. 

"Hey," she said. When he looked over, she presented him with his pistol. "I grabbed this for you."

He took it and placed it in its holster on his right thigh. "Thanks." His back straightened with a sudden thought. "Hey, you didn't by any chance see a…"

Tina was shaking her head before he finished his sentence. "No. I looked but I couldn't find it." Her expression turned apologetic. "Sorry."

Dejectedly, Kenos leaned back against the door. "Oh. Thanks anyway."

Tina nodded, then waved Clea towards them. "We should get going."

As they walked through the hallway, Kenos kept his senses up and flooded with the Force. Luckily, no one in the offices or cells noticed the group and they reached the turbolift without incident.

"Good thing you kept your mouth shut this time, Kenos," Clea said. Kenos smiled and very kindly suggested that she shut her mouth. Clea smirked, her feelings not hurt in the least.

The turbolift's doors parted and the trio stepped out into the busy spaceport. They could see the Jay about five births away from them, but Tina stopped them from heading toward it. "It's got Peace Brigade all over it," she explained.

Clea nodded. "I know." She removed her blaster from its holster and held it in front of her. "That's why we have these."

Tina put her hand on Clea's blaster and pushed it downwards. "We won't need those." She gestured towards the Jay. "Watch."

Kenos and Clea turned to the ship and squinted their eyes. After a moment of observing the three guards on the roof, two at the gangway, and two inside the ship, nothing seemed to be happening. "I'm not seeing anything," Kenos said.

A bit of anger wafted from Clea. "If they touch one single circuit..." She left the threat unfinished as a speeder full of Peace Brigade officers arrived. Four of them hopped off and began walking to positions around the ship. "I thought this was supposed to get better," she said to Tina.

The words had barely left her lips when the new arrivals fired on the guards posted on the Jay. The two on the gangway fell immediately, as well as one on the roof. The two left on top of the hull fired a few shots back but didn't hit any of the "good" guys before going down themselves. A Peace Brigade troop came out from inside the ship only to find a blaster bolt waiting for him.

"They'll close the ramp," Kenos said, picking up one of the Brigaders' intentions through the Force. Lightsaber in hand, he sprinted forward, opening himself to the Force to quicken his pace. To the citizens in the port that were watching the action, Kenos' form became warped and blurred as he accelerated to a superhuman speed . 

Just as he'd predicted, the Peace Brigaders on the Jay began to close the Corellian freighter's ramp. With a few centimeters to spare, Kenos dove into the rapidly shrinking open space into the freighter. He slammed into the deck hard but rolled through the dive to come up on one knee with his now ignited lightsaber in a defensive stance. As he'd expected, a wide-eyed Peace Brigade troop was standing by the door's controls, his hand heading towards his pistol. Not wanting to have to deal with blaster bolts, Kenos used the Force to pull the blaster towards him and slashed it in half. The frightened Brigader tried to run away but Kenos put up a Force wall that knocked him on his back. A smash on the temple with the Jedi's lightsaber hilt put the young man out. Taking the door controls for himself, Kenos stood and hit the button to lower the ramp.

A pair of enemies who had heard the struggle arrived from deeper within the ship and began firing on the Jedi. Kenos reflected two bolts into the bulkheads and one each back at the soldiers. With smoldering holes in their chests, the two slumped to the deck. Usually he felt remorse for those that he killed, but these traitors didn't deserve the deference that most Jedi held for the dead. Kenos sneered at the fallen forms and uncaringly stepped over the corpses as he headed back to the ship's cockpit.

A life form entered the edge of Kenos' consciousness, smug satisfaction drifting from it. After rounding a curve, Zeekas revealed himself with a smile on his triangular Arcona head. He had his blaster in one hand, and a small disc in his other. 

"I think this belongs to you, Jedi," he said and held up the disc. His thumb moved, sending a hologram of Numa into the air. Sitting on her bed, Numa sent Kenos the gaze that he'd seen every time she'd told him how much she loved him. It was pure and meant only for him. It boiled his blood to see that it was in someone else's hands.

Snapping his arm upwards, Kenos pointed his lightsaber's blade at Zeekas. "Give that to me," he commanded angrily. "Or I'll boil whatever you Arconas have for hearts." 

Zeekas smiled. "Such anger. Isn't that against your rules, Jedi?"

Kenos narrowed his eyes while images of Zeekas hanging limply from his lightsaber clouded his vision. _I'll show what's against our rules._ In preparation for a strike, he shifted his weight forward.

Zeekas had a keen eye. Seeing that the Jedi was getting ready to move towards him, he shut down the projector and placed it against his blaster's barrel. Kenos stopped dead in his tracks. "That's right, Jedi," Zeekas said. "Now put that weapon down."

Reluctantly, Kenos did as he was told. Standing back up, he put his hands above his head.

Seeing the Jedi defenseless and under his gun made Zeekas smile again. "Thanks, Jedi." He held up the projector. "Looks like I won't be needing this anymore." He released the grip he had on the projector, letting it fall to the floor. With eyes wide in horror, Kenos watched as Zeekas tracked the disc during its fall, and at the moment before it hit the ship's deck, put a blaster bolt through it. The red lance of energy struck the holoprojector right at its emitter matrix, melting its metal casing and turning the circuits inside into molten slag.

The shock that hit the Jedi's body made him feel as if he'd been shot with the bolt. His breath hitched for a few heartbeats as he stared at the wreckage his last gift from Numa had become. Bringing his trembling lips together in a scowl, he turned a blazing gaze to Zeekas. The Arcona was saying something to him, but Kenos didn't hear any of it. All of his senses were numbed by the fury that was coursing through his body. He could feel nothing but the rage surging through him and the power it brought.

Harnessing that power, Kenos brought up his hand, palm extended towards Zeekas. With the anger burning in him, it only took a fraction of his strength to send the Arcona hurtling backwards. The surprised Peace Brigader soared backwards three meters before hitting a bulkhead hard enough to break his back. Kenos released the pressure and allowed Zeekas to fall to the ground while the Jedi moved to stand over him. Leaning forward, Kenos allowed his shadow to eclipse the Jay's roof lights so that Zeekas could have an absolutely clear view of the scowl on his face.

Staring at Kenos with fear in his eyes, Zeekas tried to squirm away. Without moving a hand, Kenos froze him with downward Force pressure. Exerting more pressure than necessary, Kenos ground Zeekas's broken bones against the deck. While the Arcona writhed in agony, Kenos just stared. He felt no need to speak—no amount of gloating would make the situation more satisfying than it already was. When Zeekas seemed close to losing consciousness, Kenos eased the pressure a bit. He wanted Zeekas as attentive as possible.

Pointing his right palm to his lightsaber, the infuriated Jedi called it to his hand. After it slapped his palm, he ignited it and pointed its tip at the Arcona's neck. "You Peace Brigade are weak. You're collaborating with the Yuuzhan Vong when you should be fighting them." He inched the shimmering blade closer to Zeekas. "You're a traitor." A smile curled the ends of Kenos' lips. "And here on Sullust, that's a crime punishable by death." With a snap of his wrist, Kenos pushed his lightsaber through the Arcona's neck and a centimeter of deck. He let it linger until he felt all life fade from the alien's body.

The Jedi's work was not over, however. He could feel three more Brigaders locked in the cockpit. He wondered briefly what to do with them, but a glance at the rubble his projector had become told him that they deserved no better than their compatriot. Filling his left hand with his pistol, he marched to the cockpit.

When he got there, the door was unsurprisingly locked. The pitiful attempt to stop him almost made him smile. It was a small task to reach out with the Force and hit the locking mechanism's controls. The door slid away, revealing three frightened Peace Brigaders.

Immediately, Kenos snapped into action and took two steps forward. His movement scared one Brigader into sidestepping to his right side. Raising both of his arms, Kenos trained his weapons on the two closest enemies and utilized them without pause, sending a metal slug into one man's chest and a shaft of coherent light into the other's. Both flopped to the cockpit's deck, dead.

Left with only one opponent, Kenos put his weapons away and charged. The Brigader tried to scramble away but only got as far away as the wall before Kenos fell upon him. Grabbing a handful of the Brigader's collar, Kenos pressed his face in close and relished the torrent of fear coming from the man. It felt good to be feared. It made him feel strong, _powerful_. With the energy he was drawing from the terror in the cockpit, Kenos could do anything he saw fit to the man in his clutches. _I could crush every bone in his body without using my hands. I could sever his head from his neck with only a flick of my wrists. I could kill him in unimaginable ways for helping Numa's killers._ Inexplicably, a random thought butted into his mind and wormed its way through his anger. _Or I could let him live, and let the NRI agents take him to the proper authorities._

Kenos blinked, confused not by the sudden thought's origins, but by how much sense it made. There was no need to kill the man, who had nothing to do with Numa's death. Sure, the Peace Brigade was the enemy, but that didn't justify taking the man's life. Kenos should just let the Intelligence agents bring the man to their superiors. He should have done the same for the other Brigaders on the ship, and he knew that, but he'd let himself forget for a few reckless moments of indulgence.

Looking around the cockpit, Kenos realized just how far he'd gone to satisfy his anger. _Two months of trying my hardest to not give into my anger,_ he thought dejectedly. _And this is how it ends._ The anger that had been so quick to join him a moment ago suddenly fled his body, leaving him feeling weak and sick. He let go of the Brigader and slumped onto the deck. _What a terrible Jedi Knight I've become. Numa would be disappointed._ The realization hit Kenos hard, and knocked the last vestiges of dark energy out of him. Burying his head in his hands, he began to sob. 

After the lightfight outside was done, Clea ran aboard her ship while the NRI agents arrested a Peace Brigader who had run out. Though she'd seen combat, nothing prepared her for the gruesome sight that awaited her in the Jay's main compartment. Choking back rising bile, she made her way to the cockpit as quickly as possible.

Once there, she found Kenos policing two more dead bodies. "What happened here?" she asked.

Kenos looked up at her with eyes that were slightly rimmed with crimson. "I ran into a little trouble."

Clea almost laughed. "No kidding." Squinting, she bent her knees to get a better look at the taller man's face. "Hey. Are you ok?"

With a nod, he turned away. "Yeah. Are we ready to go?"

Clea didn't miss the attempted change of subject. "Not yet," she replied, not wanting to call Kenos on his evasion of her question. It seemed obvious that he didn't want to talk about something. "We're still waiting for Tina and her team."

Kenos nodded and headed off with the two bodies floating in front of him. While she sat at her seat and began warming up the Jay, Clea wondered what was wrong with the Jedi. _I know they don't like to kill, but this is a war. I'm sure he's had to do it before._ Not understanding, but worried about her new friend nonetheless, Clea halted the start-up sequence and stood, intent on finding Kenos.

She'd only taken one step towards the cockpit's exit when Tina and Kenos entered. "We're almost ready to leave," Tina reported. "I just need another minute."

"What about those bodies?" Clea asked. "We can't just dump them outside and leave them." 

"We have another team taking care of them," replied Tina. "No need to worry." From behind her, someone said something to her in Sullustan. She responded, then turned to Clea. "We're all ready to go, now."

"Good." Clea smiled at Kenos. "Ready to race again, co-pilot?" She'd hoped that her tone would cheer him up a little.

Kenos looked at her but didn't smile as she'd hoped. He lifted his hand slightly, and switches all around the cockpit began moving in the necessary sequence to bring the ship to life. "I think we should just head back to Borleias," he said in a flat voice.

Clea and Tina exchanged questioning glances. Both were wondering why Kenos had suddenly become so taciturn but neither asked. Instead, Clea lifted the ship into the air while Tina took a seat in the cockpit.

Kenos kept his hands light on the yoke, allowing Clea to do all the flying while he drifted away mentally. So much had happened during the day, and his mind was only beginning to catch up.

First and foremost, it bothered Kenos greatly that members of the Peace Brigade were on Sullust. As if losing Yavin IV hadn't been bad enough, the Yuuzhan Vong had begun to sow seeds of defection on his homeworld. It hurt him a lot to see his homeworld that way. Being so far from the invasion corridor, Kenos had imagined that Sullust would always be a safe place for him. Now, it seemed that even that haven had been taken from him. _Yavin's gone, and now Sullust is becoming infected. Nowhere's safe anymore._

As a Jedi, Kenos should have been against the eradication of an entire race, but if every single Yuuzhan Vong had to die to end the war, Kenos wouldn't shed a tear. _They deserve whatever they get for taking away my homes. And Numa._

Surprisingly, the thought didn't carry the anger it usually brought to him. After his brief romp through the dark side of the Force, Kenos had no hate left, not even enough to act shield himself from the pain. Instead, he just relived the exact moment he'd been told of her death, and the crushing weight that constricted his chest when the words had hit home. Kenos felt his breathing become more difficult—the tears were coming. Not wanting to cry in front of the two women, he began searching for something to take his mind away from the past. 

Luckily, Tina was speaking to him at that moment. Grateful for the escape from the past, Kenos latched onto her words.

"Kenos, is something wrong?" she was asking.

Turning left in his seat to get a better look at her, Kenos gave a smile that he hoped looked natural. "No, everything's fine."

Tina nodded, but Kenos could feel that she wasn't convinced. He didn't particularly care, however, as long she didn't push the issue. 

There was silence for a few moments until Clea spoke up. "Hey, Kenos, Tina is from Sullust, too. Did you know that?"

"I know," he said. "Niekatan City, just like me."

Tina cocked her head. "You're from Niekatan City, too? What part?" 

Kenos told her, and it turned out that they had once lived relatively close to each other. Soon, the two were regaling each other with stories from their childhoods that took place at the same locations. As they talked, Clea noticed, Kenos began to come out of the dark mood he'd been in since they'd left. She couldn't take part in the conversation, but she was happy that her new friend was feeling better about whatever he had gone through earlier.

The Jay was nearing Borleias, so Clea tuned out the conversation to begin preparing her ship for decantation. Despite her focus on her work, the change in the other pair's conversation subject caught her attention. While moving around the cockpit to hit various switches, she kept one ear open to the exchange.

"So, how is this Borleias base? I've heard it's been holding out for a while," Tina said.

"We're attacked almost every day, but we're holding our own," Kenos replied.

Tina sighed and stared out the viewport. "I may be stuck there a while. Is there anything fun there to do?"

Kenos grinned. "Nothing much besides drinking lots of Whyren's Reserve."

The former actress laughed and returned the expression. "That works for me." She gave Kenos a noticeable glance. "I just need a drinking partner." 

Clea froze from her place at the control panel near the cockpit's exit, her back to the dialogue. Tina had just dropped a not-so-subtle hint to Kenos that she wanted to spend more time with him once they got back to Borleias. _Uh-oh, Kenos. A holo star just asked you out._ She stopped working temporarily to hear the answer.

"There are plenty of people on the base who like to drink," Kenos said as he turned his chair to look out into hyperspace. "I'm sure you'll find someone."

Clea's jaw dropped. Sure, the allusion had been veiled—albeit thinly—but Kenos was sharp enough to pick up on her implication. _And he's a Jedi. Couldn't he feel what she really meant?_ Bewildered, Clea turned around and stared at the back of the Jedi's head. _Why would he pass this up?_

Tina nodded, though it was obvious even to Clea that she was disappointed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Standing, she brushed some dust from her pants. "I'm going to check on my team."

After she left the cockpit, Clea sat in her seat and stared at Kenos. "Okay, now I _know_ something's wrong. Did you hear what she was saying?"

Kenos sighed. "I heard it."

Leaning forward, Clea expected more of a response. When Kenos said nothing else, she put her hands up, palms to the ceiling. "So, what's up? Why'd you turn her down? I thought you had some childhood crush on her."

"Yes, I _had_ a crush on her," Kenos responded. "Until I met someone else."

Clea sat back in her seat as some of the pieces began to fit together. "Oh. That's who was on that projector?" Kenos nodded. "Did you ever get it back?" she asked.

"No," Kenos replied simply.

_Another clue._ "And she's too far away to get another one?"

Kenos bit his lip. "Sort of." His voice was thick. "She's dead."

Clea felt her eyes go wide and she brought her hand to her mouth, sorry that she'd stumbled onto such a sensitive subject. "Oh, I'm sorry," she breathed. She leaned forward again and placed a hand on Kenos' arm. "I'm sorry."

Kenos nodded, and tried to keep his outward composure while inside he tried to calm the raging storm of emotions. "It's okay," he choked around a thick lump in his throat.

A moment later, Kenos was able to speak again. "That's only half of what's wrong." He paused, wondering why he was telling someone he'd just met about his private thoughts. But for some reason, Clea seemed the kind of person he'd be able to talk to, no matter the circumstances. Despite the brevity of their relationship, Kenos considered her a good friend.

"Earlier I said I ran into some trouble, but I was the one who created it." He stared down at his hands. "That projector was all I had left of Numa. When that Zeekas guy destroyed it…I went berserk." Shame was added to the thick layer of negative emotions already coating the young Jedi. "Not only did I kill him when I didn't have to, but I toyed with him. I broke his back and let him lay there in pain before I killed him."

His eyes started misting over again. "Then I came into the cockpit and found more people like him. Traitors. I was deciding how to kill the third one when I realized I was feeding off his fear." He wiped his eyes. "I realized that I'd failed as a Jedi again. I went dark despite my best efforts for two whole months to not let Numa's death bring out the worse in me!"

Tears stemming from more emotions than Kenos could trace streamed down his face, only to be wiped away by the back of his left hand. To hide them better, he leaned forward and covered his face with his hands. "I miss her so much," his muffled voice said. "And I hate them for taking her away from me!"

Clea could only assume that _them_ meant the Yuuzhan Vong. Since the beginning of the war, she'd seen much of what she was seeing now, but she still didn't know exactly how to handle it. Moving to stand behind the Jedi, she placed both of her hands on his shoulders, squeezing slightly as he took a few minutes to reign himself in.

"I'm sorry," Kenos said after calming himself with the Force.

"No, don't be," Clea responded. "I was the same way when my parents died. I know just how it is."

Kenos took another composing breath. "Thanks."

The ship's proximity alarm began beeping its annoying tone, causing Clea to look up. "Hey, we're getting close, and I'm going to need help flying through the mines." She gave the Jedi's shoulders another squeeze. "Can you help?" 

Kenos, his cheeks dry and at their usual color, nodded and began flipping switches that would prepare the ship for realspace reversion. "Yeah. I can help."

Working in tandem, Clea and Kenos switched to the sublight engines and the bright tunnel of hyperspace shattered and turned back into millions of stars. With Kenos's help, Clea expertly navigated the Jay through the Yuuzhan Vong's growing dovin basal minefield and brought the ship into the Borleias base during the very early hours of the moon's morning. Unbuckling herself and lowering the ramp, she headed out of the cockpit.

"It's good to be home," she said. "Such as it is."

As they exited, they noticed that there were two people waiting for them. Kenos squinted his eyes and saw that Jaina Solo and Alema Rar were standing at the foot of the ramp. Her arms crossed over her chest, Jaina had the look of an angry military officer. When she began walking to him, Kenos suddenly felt nervous for reasons he didn't entirely understand.

"You," she said angrily. "You stood me up. No one does that to the envoy of Yun-Harla!"

Kenos jerked back in surprise. "Whoa, Jaina, I was a little busy. Your uncle will tell you."

Jaina felt his anxiety and her face turned back to usual. She laughed and slapped his chest. "Just kidding, stupid." She pulled him into a quick hug. "I don't care that you couldn't show up. I'm just glad you're okay. But I should definitely see Uncle Luke; he'll want to know that you're back. I'll go tell him." She turned and began walking to the biotics facility, calling out to her uncle through the Force.

Alema smirked at Kenos. "I wish I'd been there to get you out of trouble for once. Maybe it would shut you up."

"No," hesaid with a shake of his head. "Nothing can shut me up."

"I know that all too well." Alema took a step forward and hugged him. "It's just good to know you're okay." Covering her mouth with a hand, she stifled a yawn. "And now that you're back, I'm going to sleep. Good night." 

"Good night," Kenos said, and then Alema was off. He turned to find Clea but she wasn't next to him. He could feel some people back on the Jay and figured one of them was her. He started to walk back into the ship to find her, but Tina grabbed his arm.   
"Kenos," she said. "I just wanted to thank you for everything that happened today." Before Kenos could thank her for her actions, she pulled a hologram from her pocket and handed it to him. "This is for you. I hear you're a fan." Smiling in the way Kenos had seen dozens of times in her holos, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "It's just a little token of my appreciation," she said as she began walking back to her team.

Kenos looked down at what she'd just given him. It was a still holo, a headshot that looked like it was taken before the invasion. Underneath her smile floated words that had the tell-tale shimmer of being recently imprinted onto the image. "Thanks for everything," the inscription said. "I owe you big. Love, Tina Holinex."

Despite himself, Kenos smiled and rubbed his cheek. _How did she know I'm a fan? I didn't tell her._ His smiled broadened a bit as he realized who had told Tina. He whirled around to find her, but Clea was already behind him.

"Did you get a gift?" she asked as if she didn't already know the answer to the question.

Kenos nodded and held up the hologram. "I did. I suppose I have you to thank for it?"

Chuckling, she began to walk past the Jedi. "You sure do," she said as she came nearer to him. As she passed, she lightly hit his right cheek twice with her open palm. "Enjoy it."

Kenos smiled and looked back at the picture for another moment. When he looked up, Clea was a few meters ahead, so he jogged to catch up to her.

"Hey, thanks for this, Clea. I'll put it right next to my letter from Princess Organa Solo." 

Clea waved a hand. "Save the thanks. You just owe me one." She entered the main complex and turned left to her quarters.

"I owe you a few," Kenos said as he turned the opposite way.

But every step away from the hangar and his newly found friends made his smile fade away just a bit. Eventually, before he was even halfway to his room, it was totally gone and replaced with a frown of worry as the events of the day attacked his mind again. Lingering effects of the dark power he'd employed were still coursing through his body, and it worried him. For the past months he'd made the mistake of not speaking to someone about his growning anger until after it had erupted in acts against the Code.

Deciding to seek some sort of counsel, he reached out through the Force and called to the person he knew could help him. She was asleep, but thankfully still on-planet, so Kenos nudged her mind enough to wake her. He felt her awaken and knew she understood who had just contacted her. Leaving her husband asleep in their bed, Tionne made her way to Kenos' room, emanating motherly concern for her apprentice.

Grateful that his master was on her way, Kenos hurried to his quarters. When he arrived, he poured out the story of his fall to Master Tionne. She listened and offered advice for adhering to the light, but she didn't fill Kenos with false hopes that it would be an easy thing to do. She made it clear that the temptation to return to the dark side would be stronger next time, but at least Kenos was taking steps to ensure his readiness for his next encounter with the more sinister side of the Force.

"There's a tough road ahead of you," she said. "But at least you recognize that you don't have to be the only one traveling on it. Kam and I will be here to help you in every way." She pulled her apprentice in for a quick hug, then gestured towards his bed. "Now go to sleep, Chef," she said, calling Kenos by the name his friends on Yavin IV had given him because of his interest in cooking. "You've had a long day and need some rest."

She left, and Kenos made his way to his bed. He slept, but fitfully—even in his dreams he was fighting against the dark side's lure to punish all Yuuzhan Vong for Numa's death. The next morning, he awoke with the same anger that usually greeted him, but it was diluted slightly by another feeling—determination to end his flirtation with the dark side. With the first steps of the day, he vowed to never again tarnish Numa's memory by using it to fuel any dark energy. It was indeed going to be a harsh journey, but Kenos Ossinian had promised himself—and Numa—that in no way would he fall again.

THE END


End file.
